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England elected Rural Caucus chair

State Rep. Terry England, R-Auburn, Wednesday was elected chairman of the bipartisan Rural Caucus, which will study issues of interest to the sparsely populated areas of Georgia.

England said the 55-member caucus would not have its own legislative agenda or take positions on particular bills, but would study a range of issues before the Georgia General Assembly. As an example, he said one of the caucus' weekly meetings would be devoted to supporters of a proposal to change regulations on expansion of medical facilities and the next would be devoted to opponents.

"Our job is to take a look at issues and see how they will affect rural Georgia ... to try to become better educated," he said. "... We don't need another organization in the House tearing power from each other in different directions."

Bill would adjust Piedmont court days

The terms of court in Banks, Barrow and Jackson counties would shift to a more uniform schedule under House Bill 53 introduced this week by state Rep. Terry England, R-Auburn.

Current law specifies that the courts making up the Piedmont Circuit be convened on a combination of the first, second or third Mondays of months that vary for each county.

England said the circuit's judges asked him to introduce the measure to shift the beginning of all terms to the first Mondays in February and August.

"You had all these things going on, and it was hard to keep up with them," England said.

Braselton is trying to save its taxpayers some money over the next three years through legislation to postpone it from falling under control of a water-planning district and the requirements it imposes.

State Rep. Tommy Benton, R-Jefferson, is sponsoring House Bill 70, which makes a four-word addition to the Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District Act. His measure is designed to keep the city of Braselton out from under control of the planning district, at the request of city officials, he said.

The district governs water usage, including sewage treatment, in the most populous counties of north Georgia and metro Atlanta. Braselton sprawls into three counties under control of the district and one, Jackson County, that's exempt because of its size.

Jackson is growing fast enough to be included in the district when the next U.S. Census Bureau in 2010, but Braselton officials figure they can save their taxpayers $500,000 a year by waiting. That's based on the estimate of costs to comply with stringent requirements the district imposes on sewer systems under its jurisdiction.

- Morris News Service

Complaint targets Perdue's lawyer

Ethics allegations that dogged Gov. Sonny Perdue during his re-election campaign resurfaced on Wednesday as the governor's lawyer, state Rep. Larry O'Neal, was slapped with an ethics complaint alleging he got Perdue a $100,000 tax break.

The complaint against O'Neal, R-Warner Robins, was filed on Wednesday with the Joint Legislative Ethics Committee by a former researcher with the state Democratic Party.

It claims that O'Neal, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, "used his position as a Member of the House to bestow a financial benefit upon a client of his private law practice."

The conflict of interest complaint against O'Neal raises fresh questions about whether the ethics committee will be effective in allowing lawmakers to police their own conduct. Established in 2005, the full committee has yet to hear a complaint.